Are you a gamer or do you like games in general? Do you remember Phoenix Ready games in our last blog about them!?
Art by Artist Intern Erika Gonzalez
PRG known as Phoenix Ready Games is working on collaborating with Design Hub. Daniel Todd the CEO of PRG other known as Phoenix ready games, but also a known ARC Student is working with the Design Hub by using there interns for their upcoming game Holiday wars and a new game that is in development at the moment. Many of the interns who have joined Daniels team are great with 3D modeling, 2D Artwork, Programming, and Animation.
3D Model Done by 3D Modeling Intern Jea Lee
You might of heard of them from a blog post a year ago when they were working on Holiday Wars.
Some of the interns that are working with PRG is getting paid for their work by the Design Hub.
Some of the interns who aren’t getting paid are working on their own time when they don’t have other Design Hub work to do.
Just like a previous blog post about Holiday Wars; Daniel and his team is still working on finishing up this project and getting the game ready to be able to play.
The other game the company is working on is still in development and still in discussion with the team. Furthermore about this project is still in making and will be announced when the game is fully discussed and in programming.
Recently Design Hub have given Daniel couple more programmers to help them push out the game. These types of interns are going to be excellent to help them push the game out. These games in the future are going to be on steams store ready for people to play and enjoy!
The laser engraver in the ARC Design Hub can be a learning process to new interns. During the first couple weeks at the design hub we train and teach our interns how to use and/ or the purposes the laser can do for us. We are still new to laser but we always will find new tactics on how we should operate the laser. Either finding the right settings or experimenting on pieces of scrap materials to see how it will turn out.
What does the laser engraver used for in the ARC Design Hub? What can we make with the laser we have?
Here in the Design Hub we currently are using two laser engravers in the back of room 311. The laser Engraver is used for ton of projects for our clients and personal uses. Designers here at the Design Hub create wonderful projects to help support the hub with their creativity. Just like the Retopo Map blog we did awhile ago, they used the laser for that project. Interns are able to used the laser for personal projects to create unique types of physical merchandise.
What types of merchandise or products can you use to make stuff here in the Hub?
The types you can make in the laser engraver is the following: Sketch book covers, key chains, ornaments, etc.
Let your creativity wonder around the ideas of creating wonderful types of pieces out of any materials like wood and plastic.
Although, It can also be used for educational purposes like making flash cards out of plastic or making pieces for a game board for and educational game.
How does the laser function and how can you get a decent design without it melting or making the design look weird?
Muhannad Abbas, who is very well experienced and excellent with the laser made these templates out of wood and plastic.
The templates shows how the laser reacts to the type of material it touches depending on the shading of the grey is being used.
Too much power on the laser with a really dark color may burn the wood or melt the plastic. With the used of this template the designers are able to understand how the laser works and how much they need to make their projects a success.
How can people outside of the Design Hub apply or request stuff to get printed?
On the ARC Design Hub Website we have a work request area. This area your able to request projects that our interns can print out for you. Their are examples and a request form to get started!
Day of the Dead. In this holiday focuses on the gathering of families and and friends in praying to remember family and friends that have died.
Here at the design hub we are working on a seasonal project for this special holiday.
The project began October 1 and will continue until November 2, when the Day of the Dead officially ends.
Photos taken by Angelique Doty
They are making a small scaled skull to sell at the bookstore for approximately one dollar per skull.
This creative idea was suggested by one of our amazing interns Erika Gonzales. Who thought of this project due to a previous project “Bobble-head Project”.
The bobble-head project is about peoples heads getting scanned by the 3D scanner by the 3D scanning interns here at the Hub. Making it into amazing scanned heads for bobble-heads.
Photos taken by Angelique Doty
The project inspired the idea for this project to create skulls using the same method as the bobble-heads.
First, a full sized skull that Erika brought in was scanned. Next they 3D printed this life sized skull. Now, Smaller Scale skulls are in the progress of being created , Then painted by the Artist team.
The artist team consist of : Erika, Summer and Regan.
Currently, the artist team is finding a location to sell these 3D scanned and printed skulls at any local Day of the Dead Event.
Future development from this project includes making the skulls into bobble-heads, earrings, and charms for people to make their own jewelry from them such as necklaces and bracelets.
Final step of this project is to paint and seal the skulls in the paintwork with a special sealant that prevents any staining.
During the Spring, The Hip Hop Competition lasted roughly 2 hours. This Event was put together in the ARC Gymnasium. This was the first Hip Hop competition ever held.
Hoping for more events like this in the future.
Enthusiastic Dancers are eager to put their skills to the test. The organizations that were behind this event are: U.N.I.T.E, L.E.T.C (Low End Theory Collaboration), J.B.C Joint Budget Committee and Kaeb.
All funding this event.
UNITE is the community diversity center for American River College, and the Joint Budget Committee and Kaeb funded the competition.
Joshua Bonzo’s idea was set forth the production of this project. Another contributor of this project was Moses Rodriguez. Bonzo has been break dancing since the age of seven or eight.
This competition had a guest star Ken Smith, who lead everyone through each move. Smith was interviewed for more information regarding the culture of Hip Hop. It was originated in New York, and Smith was among its cultural colors from its first developments. He currently teaches intermediate Hip Hop at UCLA lecture and lab Arts and Cultures Department despite braving through several physical injuries to his hip, knees, ankles, and fingers.
Some modern Hip Hop moves are: turfing and crumping. Ken Smith describes Hip Hop as a culture, not just a dance style. He associates the culture of Hip Hop with graffiti, break dancing, DJ-ing, and rapping. Smith strongly emphasizes how the elements of Hip Hop are based on style and not technique. He danced in street competitions and freestyle competitions after it bloomed in California.
They want to bring hip hop culture into the American River College campus, along with break dancing!!
Brought to us by the creative mind of Design Hub intern Daniel, we have a game that has been slowly brought to fruition titled “Holiday Wars: Battle of the North”. The creative team behind the development of Holiday Wars also consists of 10 Design Hub interns including coders, visual artists, and designers for website management that have collaborated on the project. While at first the goal for the project was for all of the interns to gain experience in making a shipped game for their portfolio, it has evolved into something so much more. “The main goal of the game was to keep it simple, accessible, easy to pick up and play, while still being casually hard to master,” Daniel tells us. He also mentions that the game has had a few different iterations and developments, but it has now evolved into the RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game that it is today.
Inspiration for this game included games such as World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, and the game’s design aesthetic is very cute and fun, but with a subtle, dark undertone that’s sure to give players chills.
The game is being designed for publishing on Steam with roughly 9-10 playable levels. As Daniel puts it, it is like chess but without the turns. Players play as an army of Christmas Elves, commanded by a popular figure like “Santa” or characters like “the Snow Queen”. While players explore the gorgeous snowy landscape, they come across other characters as well. Enter the Woppletingers-
Woppletinger character design by Daniel Todd
These mythical, beastly creatures were originally designed by Daniel and the Design Hub’s creative team, striking fear and awe into players as they encounter them. Everything players experience in the game was designed on programs including Blender for 3D modeling, Unity for the actual engine of the game, and Photoshop for art and concepts.
The game, taking place in a chilly terrain surrounded by mountains, is essentially a giant epic snowball fight between Santa’s Army and the Woppletinger tribe, along with other armies lurking in the cold as they fight for supremacy. While players are gathering resources to build their base, they are producing and controlling an army in hopes to defeat the enemy with the very same objective. Daniel mentions that both sides are planned to be balanced, so it’s really a matter of skill who determines the victor in a fair environment.
Design Hub intern Daniel, working with team member on Holiday Wars game
Daniel has been working as an intern for the Design Hub for one semester, but has been nursing this project for the last few years. He tells us, “any game project requires a lot of work, and I’ve learned that the hard way over the years. We couldn’t have done this alone, and I’m happy I met a ton of interns excited about the future of the game, and passionate for game design”.
Amazingly enough, the Design Hub has also actually helped Daniel start up his own company, Phoenix Ready Games. He is graduating this term, and unfortunately leaving the Design Hub, but he plans to to cooperate with the Design Hub as an external business as he expands into other projects.
He tells us he would love to have this opportunity be available for students in the future; as he would’ve loved to have an opportunity like this when he first started ARC himself. And we at the Hub couldn’t agree more.
All the creativity, collaboration, and hard work from Daniel and his team that went into this game is truly remarkable, and is something that our Design Hub Team is extremely proud of.
Anyone interested in playing the game can send us an email, or keep checking our website and social media pages for updates on the game’s release on Steam. Thank you to everyone involved, and everyone who has supported the game thus far.
As the war rages on, which side will you fight for?
Just like a previous blog post about Holiday Wars; Daniel and his team is still working on finishing up this project and getting the game ready to be able to play. 
The types you can make in the laser engraver is the following: Sketch book covers, key chains, ornaments, etc.
Muhannad Abbas, who is very well experienced and excellent with the laser made these templates out of wood and plastic. 
